Five Things We Learned From Alumni Interviews: 

1.     BSSE theories have made a big impression on our alumni. We were pleased to hear that the theories and frameworks of the course have stayed top-of-mind with many of you since graduation. In many cases, they’ve helped you to frame your own approach to business (and even personal) challenges and strategic decision-making.

2.     That said, some theories are “stickier” than others. Jobs To Be Done (JTBD), Disruptive Innovation, and RPPs are the theories that are most often at the forefront of your thinking, and those three have generated the greatest interest in terms of requests for additional support and practical, in-depth resources. 


3.     Implementing JTBD is a clear priority. The theory that the majority were most keen to adopt or to improve upon was Jobs To Be Done. Respondents were often unsure about the best way to approach JTBD implementation and how to interpret and act upon JTBD findings. 

4.     Teaching your teams—and especially your bosses—is a key obstacle. While a majority of you have tried to implement one or more of the theories post-HBS, you reported that the most common impediment is the difficulty of translating information from the course into content that is accessible to peers, along with the challenge of educating executive leadership on key theory tenets and convincing them of the merits of action resulting from the application of the theories to their business. 

5.     You expressed a clear desire for “Clay-approved” content. Many of you who have tried to implement material from the course have discovered that there are lots of different perspectives out there on topics such as Disruption and Jobs To Be Done, and that the overabundance of information can be confusing and misleading. You all pointed us to the need for curated toolboxes, containing content and approaches approved by Clay. We are currently designing and researching our first such toolbox, on Jobs Theory. 


If you’d like to learn more about our findings or share your own experience with us, please do so in the comments or email us at fgi@hbs.edu. Again, thanks to all of you who have shared your time and thoughts with us so generously.